Foe or Friend
by Birdboy
Summary: "The Hikarigaoka bridge bombing. The Odaiba Fog incident. The Invasion Christmas. And now, starting with the Kawasaki blackouts, yet another invasion!" The recent attacks have left public opinion of the Digimon extremely hostile, and Fuji TV's Ishida Hiroaki, together with his son, are out to change that. Written for the dandan fanzine.


"_The Hikarigaoka bridge bombing. The Odaiba Fog incident. The Invasion Christmas. And now, starting with the Kawasaki blackouts, yet another invasion! Humanity is under attack, and it is high time we do something to protect our world from these monsters!"_

Ishida Hiroaki turned off the TV in disgust, mostly because he was the one holding the remote; Yamato was even angrier with the broadcast, but couldn't reach the power button in time. Strangely enough, the actual digimon in the room was if anything the least annoyed of the three.

"I'm just flat-out disgusted they're running with this tripe. NHK should be ashamed of themselves, aren't they supposed to be respectable?" Yamato said.

"I wish it was just NHK… TV Tokyo, NTV, even Fuji TV's airing programs with this kind of tone. The public can't get enough of the digimon story, and even most of my coworkers don't know what's really going on. Treating them all like big dumb kaiju come to life is a simple enough narrative, and it seems to fit… I'm really sorry," Hiroaki responded.

"You've gotta do _something_ about this, Dad! Last time the cops saw us and our digimon together they damn near arrested us! There's no telling what Japan would be like today if not for Gabumon and the others, their signal wouldn't even reach outside Odaiba if we hadn't taken down Vamdemon… pull some strings or something, our partners deserve better!"

Hiroaki nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

"I want to run a special covering the digimon story from a more sympathetic angle."

It wasn't the easiest request to make – since when did they ever let him decide on programming? But Hiroaki had been working at Fuji TV for enough years, and more than enough hours, that maybe he could call in this favor.

"Fantastic! I wish I had thought of that! That's a great idea, Ishida-san, with all the controversy our ratings will be through the roof!" the producer answered, his enthusiasm at least _sounding_ genuine.

"So you'll let me air it?"

"Just one condition." Hiroaki suppressed a groan; he should've figured it wouldn't be quite so easy. Admittedly, he had been prepared to work extra hours, as long as he could squeeze them in without falling asleep on the job. And while no one likes the idea of taking a pay cut, it's not like the airtime was free on their end, he had made enough in his career that he'd be fine financially, and doing _something_ about the anti-digimon hysteria would be worth the price to him. If anything, Hiroaki just wished he was reporting to someone who'd get straight to the point and skip the whole polite faux-enthusiasm routine.

"What?"

"There might be an adverse reaction from the public, because a lot of angry families around here had to repair their house because of digimon fights, or even had the place they worked close down for weeks or even months. Heck, I think the current version of the Anti-Digimon Citizens Group or whatever they're calling themselves these days has its office across the street. So I want your kid and his partner outside the building on the day we run it," he explained.

Hiroaki gave his boss a knowing smile. He didn't mind _that_ condition at all.

* * *

"So they gave you the slot?" Yamato asked his father.

"Yeah, but I'll need a bit of help. Be there with Garurumon when it airs, and… could you help me arrange interviews with Togemon and… whoever that digimon is that grabbed the green one at the end of the fight?"

"I'll gladly protect Fuji TV, I kinda owe them one," Gabumon said sheepishly, visions of the building's original, ball-shaped observation room dancing through his head. "But why don't you want to interview me?"

"A lot of people will assume I'm lying just because my kid has a digimon. Don't want the bias allegations to get even worse… and besides, Togemon already gives the show a partner's perspective. I think the show would benefit from a digimon or two who lives in the digital world as well."

"Unfortunately, Leomon is deceased, but I can definitely get you in touch with Togemon," Yamato said sadly. "As for getting you another non-partner interview, I'm not sure if the Digital Gate will let adults in, or if the cameras will even work… but I'll try."

* * *

The gate was opened, although Yamato did have to call over Takeru and Patamon to do it, and Hiroaki soon found himself in a strange yet somehow familiar land. Maybe it was the plush blocks, looking like the toys he bought for Yamato as a baby, except each of them was larger than he was and they were stacked high into the air until they looked like skyscrapers. Or maybe it was the out-of-place railroad crossing in the distance, closed as if to warn digimon of a train that would never come.

It was Takeru holding the camera as Hiroaki looked upon the Village of Beginnings; he had been warned that a large, professional TV crew might just startle their interview target. Hiroaki knelt down to observe the cradles below him – differently shaped than a human infant's, for baby digimon lacked arms and legs – and even reached out to pet one, but was warned off by his younger son. "Don't touch them. Elecmon can be overprotective, and there won't be an interview if you make him mad."

Hiroaki retracted his hand and waited until something like a rabbit, or maybe a cat or fox (some small mammal, anyway) bounded into view. His eyes were drawn to its sleek, red fur coat with purple markings, and the nine tails in roughly the shape of an unfurled paper fan. As the digimon approached, Hiroaki realized the purple markings on the digimon resembled flames or lightning bolts. Perhaps that was the reason for the name "Elecmon".

"I'm Ishida Hiroaki of Fu-" he began like normal, then caught himself; the only television he had seen in this world was the gate he came through, and he doubted it got Tokyo-area broadcast TV. "I'm a journalist from the human world, and I'm here to interview you."

* * *

"You've heard from the injured, you've heard from the victims – now, hear the other side of the story. This Sunday at 6, for the first time in history, Fuji TV News will broadcast interviews with live digimon! But don't worry – no humans were hurt in the making of this program!"

"Sounds a bit exploitative," Hiroaki muttered grimly, "but at least it'll get people to tune in. Guess it's par for the course these days, and we can't change things if no one will hear what the digimon have to say."

"I still don't like it," Yamato said, and Gabumon nodded. "But I guess it's all we can do until Sunday."

* * *

"The terror of Odaiba, the cactus who shoots down helicopters – say hello to Togemon!" The introduction sounded more like the start of a wrestling match than the opening of a serious news program, but Mimi had wanted to open her partner's interview with a bit of flair, and Hiroaki agreed that if nothing else, it might help get the audience in a more accepting mood.

Togemon walked onto the set and fumbled with the microphone, unable to grip it effectively with the thumbs of her boxing gloves; an assistant was left to hold it up to her, although his height was not quite sufficient to reach.

"So tell me, Toge-san, what happened in that fight?" Hiroaki asked.

"Well, first Ogremon jumped through the distortion and started attacking us," Togemon answered, as a photograph of her opponent in that battle was displayed in the corner of television screens across the Greater Tokyo Area.

"By us, do you mean all the children with partner digimon? And by the distortion… that hole in the sky?"

"You're correct about the distortion, but only my partner, Meicoomon, and her partner had arrived on the scene," Togemon declined to mention Mimi or Meiko's names on the air, for it seemed unwise in the current political climate. "Ogremon had defeated Meicoomon, and we were supposed to wait. But I thought I could push him back through the distortion, so I evolved up into the form you see here."

"I suppose doing the interview as Palmon would be easier," Hiroaki said, "but then again, it wasn't Palmon who fought Ogremon. How'd the fight go from your perspective?"

It was hard to read emotion on a digimon with holes for eyes, but many of the more digimon-sympathetic viewers claimed to see sorrow on Togemon's face. "I wasn't thinking. I should've evolved again, or just stuck to using Coconut Punch. But I jumped in the air for my finishing move like we were still in the digital world, Ogremon got back up, and I heard I caused a helicopter accident… I'm really sorry about that, by the way. I couldn't even win the fight, we'd have been in real trouble if Leomon hadn't come through the distortion to rescue us."

"You four would have?"

"Us four, hundreds of onlookers, and half of Odaiba. Ogremon seemed a lot stronger than before, who knows how much damage he would've done before backup arrived? The police and military were on the scene but they didn't even try to confront him! I had to protect everyone!"

"'I had to protect everyone'… powerful words. We'll be right back with an interview from Elecmon, filmed on location in the monsters' own world, after this commercial break!"

* * *

"So, Elecmon, what do you think of humanity?" Hiroaki asked.

"I've heard some digimon have been causing trouble for you guys, but honestly we'd be lost without them. What kind of world would we live in today if the Dark Masters had won and the Village of Beginnings was barren?" Elecmon folded its arms, as if pondering the question. "Then again, I guess some humans have caused us trouble too..."

"Trouble?"

"Well, the Digimon Kaiser did try to take over our world, and I've heard rumors that the recent infection that caused the reboot and everything came from a lab in—"

But the public would have to wait to hear Elecmon's answer. "We interrupt this broadcast to bring you live coverage of the protest outside Fuji TV headquarters."

* * *

The banners read "Fuji TV = traitors" and "no more monsters", and most of the protesters, to their credit, stuck to chanting those and a few similar slogans. One poster showed a photograph of Fuji TV as it had appeared after the Vamdemon fight, for the digimon themselves doing the damage had been mysteriously deleted. It was hastily blown up and the image was obviously taken at a lower resolution, but the words "Have you no shame?" on the bottom of the poster left no doubt as to the intended message.

A few of the closer protesters hurled insults at Yamato and Gabumon, which they bore silently as they stood outside the station's locked doors, the former with clenched fists. Getting into a shouting match was tempting, but it was something Hiroaki had strictly forbidden, and Yamato understood why.

All he could do was wait.

Inevitably, a couple young hotheads, both of whom had personal connections to digimon tragedies, were not satisfied with simply registering their discontent. First they threw rocks ineffectually at the windows, but when they failed to hit their target or pierce the glass, one hurled a molotov cocktail high into the air. The other, speaking through a megaphone, urged the crowd to charge the doors, a call many a protester was angry enough to obey.

"Gabumon, shinka! Garurumon!" Garurumon jumped up like a dog playing fetch and caught the fiery bottle in his teeth, closing his mouth on the flame before it could ignite.

"Remember, warning shots only!" Yamato shouted as thrown rocks bounced harmlessly off Garurumon's mithril fur, despite his urge to take a swing at the bastards himself.

"I know, don't worry. Fox Fire!"

Rather than a jet of fire outward at the enemy, Garurumon carefully aimed his attack at the ground, forming a barrier of blue flames far more difficult to breach than any barricaded door. There wasn't much room between the entrance and the crowd at that point, and despite his most careful efforts, the attack did singe one rioter's shirt. But fox fire does not burn like normal fire, and the terrified young man quickly put it out while running away, thankfully avoiding any serious injury.

And with no way to make it into a building guarded by a Garurumon and a firewall, those who had charged at Fuji TV either fled the scene in terror or backed up to resume their chants.

* * *

What the people of Tokyo saw, whether live or in later news roundups, on Fuji TV or on its competitors, was a digimon protecting a TV network from an entirely human riot. Some covered the story as a vindication of the idea of "good digimon", while others treated it as an absurdity, a sort of "man bites dog" (or rather, throws rocks at dog) story, but they communicated the information all the same. When Elecmon's interview did air in its entirety the next day, ratings shot through the roof.

There remained many people who hated or feared digimon, and old prejudices always die hard, perhaps harder still when the targets of said prejudices were not even human. Even those willing to treat something as doglike as Garurumon as harmless often still feared more alien-looking species such as Ogremon, or saw any digimon without a partner as a monster ready to rampage.

Yet when humans around the world gained digimon partners, and histories of human-digimon relations began to be written, the Fuji TV digimon broadcast, and Garurumon stopping the riot, nearly always merited a mention. Generations of schoolchildren around the world would watch the footage Fuji TV showed that day in history class, together with their digimon partners.


End file.
